Aurora Place Seattle

Beth's Cafe is known for doing things BIG.  Like the legendary 12-egg omelet, which Adam Richman from Man V. Food attacked - but was eventually defeated by - a year and a half ago...

But now Beth's is creating something else that's BIG - and like the omelet that Adam consumed, it also involves "southwestern exposure."

During the last week of August, two employees of Beth's Cafe, Jacob and James, began to paint a mural just behind Beth's.  The two artists, who have already put about a week of work into the project, anticipate that about a month remains before the mural is complete.

The mural is a picture of the inside of Beth's - booths, bar, kitchen, and of course, a 12-egg omelet sitting on the counter.

After receiving the Seattle Weekly's "Best of Award", Aurora's Pro Ski Service of Seattle has now been nominated as "Best Ski and Snowboard Shop" by King 5 News - but they need your help to win - vote today and pass the word on to your friends!

You're also invited to stop by for Pro Ski's opening day on Wednesday, September 15.  Read below for more information.

Dear Friends:

Pro Ski Service of Seattle has lots of reasons to celebrate. First, there’s this season’s anticipated La Nina, the best indicator for early, often, and epic snowfall in the Pacific Northwest. Second, we received Seattle Weekly's “Best of Award," and were recently ranked among the region’s top ski shops by King 5 News (rock the vote today to make us #1!).

Most of all, we’re excited to welcome friends back to our favorite corner of North Aurora Avenue. Here’s what’s new:

Come visit on opening day next Wednesday, September 15!

We love reunions. Besides the shameless ski banter and unsolicited opinions, here’s a few reasons to pop in early (we're open 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., Tues. - Sat.).

•  Pre-season tune special: Bring in your skis between 9/15 and 9/18 to get 20% off

•  Great selection & package deals: New gear arrives daily, so ask about our package deals

•  Kids gear swap: Bring what you have, leave with what you need

Follow us on Facebook

We’ve re-tuned our Facebook business page to keep you up-to-date on upcoming events, special deals, backcountry news, and other relevant topics. You can stay connected and show your support by becoming a Facebook fan.

Or, copy the following link into your browser and click “like”: http://www.facebook.com/threesheetsnw#!/pages/Seattle-WA/Pro-Ski-Service-Seattle/133309852794?ref=ts

Vote us the #1 Ski Shop on King 5 News

It takes just a few seconds to rock the vote for Pro Ski Service of Seattle on King 5 News:

http://best.king5.com/pro-ski-service/biz/129261 

Save the Date: October 29, 2010

Our annual party kicks off the new season with friends, food and drinks on Friday night, October 29. Stay tuned for more info. 

For more information, visit our website: www.proskiseattle.com or follow us on Facebook.

See you soon!

Sincerely,

Adam, Tim, Welling and the Pro Ski team

The Examiner got a sneak peek at Lucy, the new Ethiopian restaurant and lounge at 10002 Aurora Avenue set to open on the Ethiopian New Year - Saturday, September 11:

So I went to Lucy - a sexy new Ethiopian restaurant and lounge located at Aurora Avenue and 100th street.  Granted - I love anything African - YES!  But this was the soft opening - the one before the grand opening scheduled for next Saturday - September 11 - a date which is the celebration of Ethiopia new year.    However, tonight had a vibe like wow - the city of Seattle finally has an authentic Ethiopian spot on the north side.  Yet - what makes it more intriguing is that the owners are excited about bringing world music to that part of Seattle.  So to that end, they have connected with the "grand Maestro" of world music Presenter/Promoter kwasi africa - aka - dj onelove.  So - get out to the Grand Opening next week and enjoy  VERY TASTY ETHIOPIAN CUISINE and world music people!

As we announced last week, Motion Boardshop, which specializes in longboarding, kiteboarding, and paddleboarding, is coming to the neighborhood at 8310 Aurora Ave.  In fact, they're open now.  Check out the video that their crew made as they transitioned from "Old Motion" to "New Motion" - skip to the 4 minute mark for a walk through of the new Aurora space. 

Twenty years after opening his long-running and successful "Thai on Mercer" restaurant, after a two year hiatus, owner and chef Eddie Khoabtrakool is at it again - only this time, he's brought his delicious cuisine and jovial spirit to Aurora Avenue and 79th Street with "Eddie's Pan Asian Restaurant."

Check out our profile of Mendoza's Mexican Mercado just down the street as well.

Check out the announcement from Uber about their festivities this coming Thursday night.  Sounds like their chartered beerfest bus is full, but you could always ride the 358 down to the game - and tweet about it on the way with #358metro!

We will be opening early this Thursday 9/2 at 3pm before the beer festival at the M's game that afternoon. 

We will also be tapping one of the last 2 remaining kegs of the extremely rare Flyer's Cab Ride when we open. In fact, this will really be the true first tasting of the beer, as it was not fully wood-aged when we first had it in May. 

Everyone is welcome even if you're not going to the event. 

The bar will be closed during the beerfest & M's game (about 4:45pm - 9:30pm) because our entire staff is going to the event too. 

The chartered beerfest bus will leave from the bar at 4:45pm. It is completely full so unless you have a pre-purchased Über ticket you'll need to make other travel plans to & from the game. 

The post-event party back at Über after the game should be interesting. 

It's gonna be fun! We might even watch some of the game. If not, who's in for field streaking? 

See you under the bar, 

Your friends at Über Tavern 

Aurora has so many amazing and unique places! So I've decided to start doing video shorts to help you get acquainted with them.

Mendoza's Mexican Mercado at 7811 Aurora Avenue opened a few weeks ago. Meet Edgar Mendoza, the friendly and hardworking owner (who also owns the sandwich shop Barriga Llena next door), learn about the groceries and meats for sale, and get introduced to cow tongue, which apparently tastes great in tacos...

I didn't make an money doing this video, but I did receive two complimentary tacos from Barriga Llena afterwards - and they were delicious!

Lots is happening on Aurora just south of 85th Street: we've told you about Mendoza's Mexican Grocery, Aaron's rental,  and a potential farmers market  Now, while I was out at the coast for the weekend, these coast-lovers announced that they're moving to Aurora: 

Motion Boardshop announces new Greenwood location

Seattle neighborhood central to eco-friendly board sport destinations

Lake Forest Park, Wash. — August 23, 2010 — Motion Boardshop (MOBO) will move to a new location on September 1, 2010. Its new address is 8310 Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, 98103 (formerly a Karin’s Beauty Supply Store).

The longboard and kiteboard specialty shop will have a larger selection of products thanks to the increased space, as well as more parking, and easy access from I-5. Since its arrival to Lake Forest Park in 2008, the business has quickly outgrown its location.

“We’re going to miss the tight-knit community we came to know and love in Lake Forest Park,” Jason Clack, MOBO owner said. “We’re excited to establish MOBO as a similar staple in the Greenwood neighborhood.”

The new store, located near the intersection of 85^th and Aurora, is close to many longboarding, paddleboarding, and kiteboarding destinations including Green Lake, Golden Gardens, Carkeek Park, Richmond Beach, and Magnusson Park.

Based on its proximity to Green Lake, Clack expects the new location to be especially convenient for standup paddleboard rentals and the Woodland Skatepark in Lower Woodland Park at 5201 Green Lake Way North. Clack plans to sell skateboards with the increased retail space of the new store.

“We love board sports because they are so eco and green friendly,” Clack said. “They use water, wind and gravity (or pavement) as opposed to sports that need gas or whatever else.”

Offering kiteboarding lessons while the sport was in its infancy, Clack opened Seattle Kiteboarding Center (now Motion Boardshop) almost 10 years ago in Everett, WA. Today he still operates his kiteboarding school under the same name. It wasn’t until the shop moved to the Lake Forest Park neighborhood that MOBO became a local mecca for longboarding and downhill speedboarding.  The business also expanded into areas of stand-up paddleboarding and skimboarding.

Having grown up in the greater Seattle area and collectively skating and longboarding for 40 years, Clack and his wife Katie have centered their business on sharing their passion of board sports and living life to the fullest. The Clack’s have grown their business from the ground up, thanks to the support of their YouTube following and local crew. MOBO has been a welcoming place for many skaters to meet, talk shop and watch video footage. 

“Our local crew has not only helped our success, but they have invoked the excitement of board sports in this community,” Clack said. “Without them, we definitely would not be having as fun. We wouldn’t be MOBO without them.”

For more information, call (206) 372-5268 or email Shannon[at] motionboardshop.com. To see the massive selection that Motion Boardshop offers, check out their online store at http://motionboardshop.com.

 

Isn't it too early to start thinking about skiing?  Nope.  Especially not when the best ski shop is in your neighborhood!

Pro Ski, home of the amazing Yeti mural, recently received a Seattle Weekly "Best of" Award.  The independently owned ski shop on Aurora Avenue just south of 90th, which specializes "in goods and gear for backcountry skiing and mountaineering, alpine and telemark skiing, expert boot fitting and ski-tuning," was officially named "Best Start to a Ski Tour on Aurora Avenue North - 2010."

On a stretch of pavement better known for hookers and used-car lots, Pro Ski Service is a bustling oddball business during the winter months. Specializing in randonee gear (aka alpine touring), the shop is a favorite Friday-afternoon destination for skiers who want to rent a new backcountry setup or have their own boards tuned. Backcountry skiing is a niche sport, but one that's steadily grown in the Northwest—particularly as the lines and prices at Crystal and Stevens have increased. Shop owner Adam Justin and his expert staff are generous in sharing beta on weather, snow, and avalanche danger. If you visit the place—which always smells of ski wax—looking to buy or rent, the extra value comes in learning a little more about which fat ski is suited to which variety of snow. And don't be surprised, when returning your rental gear on Sunday evening, if you're offered a beer while the staff and other customers discuss conditions and skis. In fact, if you caught a rock over the weekend and nicked your bases, it's also a good idea to return the skis with a fresh six-pack. —Brian Miller 8954 Aurora Ave. N., 525-4425,proskiseattle.com

The Aurora Sharehouse, a faith-based non-profit community center and community development organization serving the Aurora corridor opening this fall is pleased to announce two AmeriCorps Volunteer openings for the coming year.

The Aurora Sharehouse, which is currently undergoing renovations at its 8914 Aurora Avenue location, is "a community collaboration birthed out of a faith community's desire to see [their] neighbors and neighborhood flourish."  Awake Church, a faith community made up of neighborhood residents, has been serving the Aurora corridor for over 3 years through such initiatives as the Vacancy Project (a transitional housing program for homeless neighbors), the Aurora Communal Garden, and Aurora's Day of Gratitude, and now hopes to facilitate broader neighbor, business, church, and neighborhood group involvement through the Sharehouse.  These two new AmeriCorps positions will help do just that!  (Full disclosure, I'm co-director of the Aurora Sharehouse and pastor of Awake). 

For the past year and a half Karen Cirulli has been doing community development work as an AmeriCorps Volunteer.  And now, there are two more opportunities for involvement - one full-time, one part-time:

• Program Coordinator, Aurora Sharehouse (full-time. 1 year, 1700 hours; $11,400 stipend + $4700 education award + health insurance). The role of the program coordinator at the Aurora Sharehouse is to provide opportunities for our neighbors to both facilitate and attend community classes, programs and events. The program coordinator will be focused on strategizing and organizing all the programs and events that take place in and through the Aurora Sharehouse. 
• Aurora Storyteller, Aurora Sharehouse (part-time. 1 year, 900 hours; $5600 stipend + $2300 education award).  The role of the Aurora Storyteller is to steward the stories of our neighborhood in a way that honors and illuminates. The Aurora Storyteller will be a listening and visionary presence in our neighborhood and will be focused on enabling the voice and stories of our neighbors to be told in creative and strategic ways that: unite people around story, advocate, and lift people above their surroundings.

Please direct all inquiries and questions to Lisa Etter Carlson, co-director of the Aurora Sharehouse at lisaetter@gmail.com.

Statement of Nondiscrimination: In carrying out the federally funded AmeriCorps program, the Aurora Sharehouse does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, political affiliation, sexual orientation, disability and/or religion.  Our anti-discrimination policy is based on our values for social justice, inclusivity and appreciation for diversity.  Through carrying out this policy we strive for full compliance with nondiscrimination requirements of the applicable statutes.

Did you see what was on PostSecret the other day?

The Seattle Weekly looked into the story...

Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) recently held a meeting at Cyndy's Pancake House in which they conversed with neighbors about their plans for an affordable housing development "with supportive services for homeless men and women living with mental illness" at the current Cyndy's property (10507 Aurora Ave) to begin in the summer of 2011.

But less than a year ago, Cyndy's was on the verge of becoming a strip club until the city declined to issue the prospective buyer, Bob Davis, the necessary permits - leading one Aurora|Seattle contributor to proclaim, "Pancakes Trump Strippers."

The Seattle Times is reporting today that a federal judge has ruled in favor of Davis, who filed a lawsuit against the city in 2008, "saying the city's failure to provide applicants with a deadline for obtaining a license violates the First Amendment protections of would-be club owners."  It remains to be seen whether or not the city will owe Davis any damages related to the loss of his potential business.

The ruling in Seattle this week by U.S. District Chief Judge Robert Lasnik came in a case filed by Davis in 2008, which claimed the city was obstructing his efforts to convert a Aurora Avenue North restaurant, Cyndy's House of Pancakes, into a strip club. Davis challenged the city's requirement that he obtain a license and comply with a zoning ordinance that requires "adult cabarets" to be sited away from schools, community centers, child-care centers and public parks.

Lasnik found the city's current licensing ordinance — passed in 2005 after the last one was struck down by another judge — fails to provide applicants with a time frame in which the city must issue a license if its requirements are met. The upshot, the judge said, is that the ordinance could allow a city to delay issuing a license indefinitely.

In 2008, the city tried to fix the ordinance by adopting a policy saying it would notify applicants within 30 days, said Assistant City Attorney Carlton Seu. But Lasnik said those efforts fell short.

Lasnik said that policy isn't the same as law, and that Davis' "First Amendment rights should not depend on what is essentially a promise to act promptly in the future."

The ruling comes after Davis has apparently abandoned his plans for Cyndy's. His attorney, Kristin Olsen, said he waited more than 19 months to buy the property, which eventually was sold to someone else. He is asking the city pay him damages for lost business.

SeattleCrime.com is reporting on a police bust at the recently reopened "Dancing Bare" near 105th and Aurora:

City officials say the Dancing Bare, on 105th and Aurora, reopened sometime in May—staff at the Department of Executive Administration did not have an exact date—after shutting down for about five years.

The building on 105th and Aurora has been licensed as an adult club since at least 1987, and was in operation until 2005, when they allowed their license to lapse. Although the club's small stage went dark, the adjacent adult book and video store—which are connected—remained open.

Last year, the business—which operates under the name Carnieville—filed to re-up their license.

When staff from the Department of Executive Administration went to inspect the business in March, it was still in a state of disarray. "It wasn’t even swept up," says inspector Michelle Crooks.

The club managed to get cleaned up and got their license back, and reopened in early May.

Shortly thereafter, Undercover Vice detectives dropped by and, according to police sources, found a sad scene.

Police tell Seattelcrime.com that only one dancer was working in the very small club—which one police source described as "a hole"—on several visits.

That dancer just happened to give an undercover detective a "dirty" dance and the city is now working to suspend her dancing license for 30 days.

See the full story here.

The life of the truck at 90th and Aurora operating as "Cubano Loco" was short-lived.  It is now the "Chunky Monkey".  Check out their website and a note from the new owners below.  Welcome to the neighborhood Lauren and Gabriel!

A few weeks ago we posted a rumor about the possibility of someone looking to develop condos at the former 1/2 Price Pots property at 8101 Aurora Avenue.

We were totally wrong about the condo thing - and are totally happy about that - because someone is getting ready to buy the property for an entirely different purpose.

According to some neighbors who have spoken to the current property owner, a sale is pending for the property to a man from Yakima who intends to operate a Farmer's Market at the site!  The market will sell 7 days a week, all year long.  In addition to having his own stand and renting space to other farmers, he plans to use the site as a central hub, including refrigeration, to store fruits and vegetables that will be sold at other sites around Seattle.

The sale is expected to be complete by the end of July and the buyer hopes to open the Farmer's Market within 3 months.  No changes are planned to the buildings on site beyond adding refrigeration to one building.  Tests are currently underway for environmental contamination on the property, since a gas station was located there in the 1920's.

Though the site includes plenty of parking - about 30 spots on the north side and 8 spots on the south side - it will be within walking distance from the nearby neighborhoods of Greenwood, Green Lake, and Licton Springs.

We'll keep you posted as we hear more!

I meant to post this on June 30...  Eighty years ago the Seattle City Council voted in favor of extending Aurora Avenue through Woodland Park.  The Seattle Times vociferously opposed the move, and expressed it in their headlines, such as, "Friends of Playfields Deceived in Aurora Act."

Here's an excerpt from and a link to the HistoryLink essay:

On June 30, 1930, by a vote of six to two, the Seattle City Council approves an ordinance extending Aurora Avenue through Woodland Park. The Council majority follows the advice of city and state highway engineers, supported by Mayor Frank E. Edwards, that the multi-lane Aurora "speedway" is needed to provide a direct approach from the George Washington Memorial (Aurora Avenue) Bridge then under construction to north Seattle and beyond. The council decision to bisect Woodland Park's 200-acre urban wilderness triggers outrage among park supporters and other speedway opponents. With the vociferous backing of The Seattle Times, opponents gather sufficient signatures to force a referendum on the council decision, but voters in the November election approve the ordinance and two years later the speedway is built through the park.

Last week we reported that Paladar Cubano at 90th and Aurora closed... but, then, the truck was still there.  One of our neighbors followed up on the story and got the scoop.  Thanks, Joe!

Goodbye to the much-loved cuban sandwich truck that has been stationed at 90th and Aurora for a little over a year.  The Seattle Weekly is reporting today that Paladar Cubano closed on Wednesday.  No explanation was given for the closure.

Here's hoping a taco truck takes its place!

As previously reported, there are plans afoot to convert Cyndy's House of Pancakes to supportive housing for formerly homeless people. On June 9, Bill Hobson, Executive Director of the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), went to Cyndy's and spoke to a group of concerned neighborhood residents.

DESC is a leading advocate of the philosophy of "housing first." Many other homeless housing projects insist that residents be clean and sober before moving in. (This practice is often called "creaming," which refers to the tendency to focus on the most treatable homeless populations.) On the other hand, DESC believes that agencies get better results if they provide housing first and then focus on the other social services. This approach is understandably controversial, but there is some pretty good empirical evidence from the New England Journal of Medicine and elsewhere that the strategy is generally effective.

Hobson began the meeting with some brief comments that summarized DESC's mission and a discussion of how the group runs its other properties. He invited neighborhood residents to learn more about the organization at DESC's website. 

Hobson stressed that DESC requires all residents in all of their buildings to sign a rental agreement with a "good neighbor" clause. Basically, this means that residents promise not to drink, drug, or panhandle in the neighborhood. In addition, the building will be staffed 24/7.  There will be 14 to 15 full-time employees devoted to the building, so 2 to 8 DESC staff will always be on site (depending on the time of day).  There will always be at least one mental health clinician there--and several more will be present during daytime hours.

There were about 50 people in the audience, and about 80% of them were either extremely skeptical or downright hostile toward Hobson at the start of the meeting. Nevertheless, about 60% of attendees seemed to leave the meeting feeling that DESC was sincere in its desire to be a good neighbor. This is not to say that they were totally happy or that all their concerns were allayed, but rather that they seemed to come away with a sense that the neighborhood could live with this project.  About 40% of the audience remained strongly opposed to the idea of putting homeless housing here.

Cyndy's House of Pancakes has been at the corner of Aurora & 105th since 1972.

The bulk of the meeting was taken up by Q+A, which is summarized below. This is NOT a verbatim set of minutes. I've combined and rearranged some questions, and I've undoubtedly made some errors in paraphrasing what the questioners and Hobson said. Nevertheless, here are the gist of the main queries and replies:

Q: How will you determine who will be residents in the new building?
A: This will be a housing project for homeless people with mental illness. We use a vulnerablility index to assess who is most in need of housing. The vulnerability index looks at many factors, but it basically seeks to determine who is most likely to die or be seriously injured if they stay on the streets. 90-100% of residents will have a psychiatric disorder, and 30-40% of them will also have a drinking or substance-abuse problem.

Q: Will the population of your housing project at 1811 Eastlake [chronic, life-long alcoholics] be transferred here?
A: No. This facility will serve a different target population, the vulnerable mentally ill.

Q: Will their be families and homeless women in the building?
A: All of our residents are single people. There are no families. About 60% of residents are men, 40% women.

Q: Do you have a zero-tolerance policy for drinking and drugging in your building?
A: No. We have a zero-tolerance for drinking and drugging in the surrounding neighborhood.

Q: How do you prevent a spill-over of anti-social behavior (drinking, panhandling, etc.) into the surrounding neighborhood? (This question was asked in several different forms by several different people.)
A: I've already mentioned the good neighbor policy in our rental agreements. In addition, the city pressures us to make sure that there is no spill-over. We leave our phone number with all the folks who live close to the building. If they see someone panhandling or doing something disturbing, they call us. When we respond to calls, we find that about 80% of the time, it's not one of our residents. But since we're there on site, we stay to problem-solve and refer the case the appropriate folks--mental health services, the police, detox, Harborview, etc.

Q: Will there be sex offenders in the building?
A: Maybe--but we're willing to listen to the community on this matter.  DESC owns 8 buildings, and 7 of them allow sex offenders. In one case, the neighborhood absolutely refused and threatened to kill the project if sex offenders were allowed in. DESC relented. DESC is open to a dialog on this issue and will heed the wishes of the community. However, DESC does believe that sex offenders should be allowed.
"Look at this from the wider perspective of the city as a whole," said Hobson. "We know that there are close to 300 homeless sex offenders in Seattle. Are we safer as a community if we leave them out on the streets? Or are we safer if they live in a supervised housing situation and are receiving treatment?"
(One person in the audience replied, "The city might be safer, but will our neighborhood? There's an elementary school bus stop right in front of this building.")

Q: Do any of your residents have a history of violence?
A: Not generally. There's a stereotype that the mentailly ill are dangerous because of the news stories and TV coverage you see when violent incidents do occur. But actually the data show that mentally ill are less violent than the general population. I can't promise you that none of our residents will ever be violent. I just can't promise that. It does happen from time to time, and when it does, we evict that resident. But overall you're not going to get any more increase in violence than you would from any other 80-90 unit building coming into the neighborhood. When we treat this population, violence is an extremely rare problem. The main problem we face with this population is the tendency of our residents to isolate inside their rooms.

Q: What will the building look like?
A: Our architects are in the very early stages of the design process, so we don't really know yet. You can see examples of our other buildings on our website. Our buildings tend to be attractive; the newer ones are three-star Built Green or LEED certified. The community will have a lot of say in the design of the building. We are going to form a Design Guidance Review Committee, probably in August of this year. If you signed our sign-in sheet, we'll let you know when the first meeting of that committee will be. That committee will seek feedback from the community on the building design, amount of parking, and all those sorts of issues There's a mandatory green space that's a part of any development of this size. We usually like to have gardens or p-patches for our residents, but we're open as to what the final design of that green space might look like.

Q: Can residents come and go as they please at all hours of the night?
A: Yes. This is an apartment building, not a prison. Most of our residents keep normal hours, just like anyone else, so there is not a ton of coming and going at night. We do restrict visiting. Residents can have no more than two visitors at a time, and visiting hours are 8am to 10pm. Overnight stays must be approved by our staff at least 48 hours in advance.

Q: This neighborhood already has a lot of problems. Why are you coming in here, adding to them, and running our property values down?
A: DESC views itself as part of the solution, not as a problem. We view ourselves as part of the neighborhood, and we require our building manager to join the local neighborhood associations. Our residents join trash paint pick-ups and graffiti paint-outs. Our buildings are attractive, and we keep them extremely well-maintained. Just go look at our older buildings yourself to see. And, as far as property values are concerned, there is good evidence that this type of supportive housing doesn't reduce nearby property values. Sometimes it increases them. There's a study up on our website about that. With transit-oriented development coming to Northgate, we view this neighborhood as a good investment. We expect our property values to increase substantially in coming years and our neighbors' values to increase right along with us.

Q: Look at that guy dealing drugs out of that black mini-van over at the AM/PM. How can you think that it's a good idea to put a homeless shelter right next to that? That can't be good for your residents.
A: First of all, this isn't a shelter; it's an apartment building for the formerly homeless. And we have a similar building on 3rd and Yesler, and that's a lot rougher neighborhood than this. We know how to cope in these environments. And we're committed to helping stop that kind of stuff. Our staff can take down license plates, and we cooperate with the police and neighborhood watch. Our buildings are well-lit and we have closed-circuit TV cameras to aid in an investigation in case there is any sort of crime on our premises. But the bottom line is that we help make our neighborhoods safer places.

Q: What was your site selection process? Why did you pick this particular site rather than, say, one of the troubled hotels on Aurora?
A: This property was available and none of the hotels were. This particular site met several of our needs. It's on major bus lines. I has a 40-foot height limit so we can put in enough units to have an "economy of scale." What I mean by "economy of scale" is that we''ll be hiring about a half-dozen staff to provide services, and that's expensive. It only makes sense to do that if you have a building that can have enough units to make it worth our while. We liked the size of this parcel, and we had been looking to open a center in North Seattle for some time.

Q: This lot is zoned commercial. Will you have commercial space as part of this project?
A: Yes. The first floor of the project will have to be commercial space. The top three floors will be housing. We're not in this to make money as commercial landlords, so we want to listen to the community as to who our commercial tenants should be. In our building on Rainier Avenue, the Rainier Beach Merchants Association and a neighborhood association are our tenants. We'd love to have a neighborhood group move into this property. We charge substantially below market rate for commercial leases. We'd prefer not to have a tenant that is going to have a huge parking requirement because we'd like to have as many housing units here as possible. But, again, we're open to listening to what the community wants.

Q: This is a pretty small lot. How are you going to fit 80-90 units of housing in here?
A: Actually, it's a pretty big parcel. The building will be four stories, and our units are small. We're probably only going to have about 15 or so parking spots because none of our residents have cars. Most of their visitors don't either. Mostly, we'll need parking for our staff and our commercial tenants. So, the exact amount of parking will depend on who those tenants are.

Q: Do you require your residents to take their psychiatric medicines?
A: No. You can't require someone to take psychiatric meds without a court order in Washington State. And our experience is that forcing our residents to do something that they don't want to is counterproductive. We ask that they engage with our staff and seek treatment, including medication. 98% of them do that. That % would be lower if we made them take their meds.

Q: You mentioned the eviction process a couple of times. How does that work? What happens to the people who are evicted?
A: We don't like to evict residents, but sometimes we have to. Our two rock-bottom requirements are that our residents have to pay their rent and that they have to avoid violence. For something like assault, we almost always evict the resident who committed the assault. For something like panhandling or drinking in the neighborhood, there are a series of escalating consequences for those who break those rules. We do have to evict some chronic violators. Those folks who are evicted don't stay in the neighborhood. We take them back to one of our emergency shelters downtown, and they typically stay downtown because that's where the social services are. Overall, our eviction rate is low, especially after the first year a building is in operation. After a building has been around a year, residents tend to develop a sense of community. And then there's a sort of peer pressure on other residents. People who break the rules are seen as messing things up for the rest of the building. Most of our residents like where they live, and think of the neighborhood as their neighborhood too. In our established buildings, 75% of residents have been there 24 months or longer. In market-rate apartments, that figure is 18 months.

Q: There are already some halfway houses up the hill in the neighborhood. Aren't you crowding too many social services into too small of an area?
A: Not really. The City of Seattle has certain requirements about how many social services you can have in a given area--and how much low-income housing. These are called dispersion and concentration criteria. Before offering to buy this site, we checked this out and found that this site complies with those regulations.

Q: You mentioned that your residents pay rent. How do they do that? Do they work?
A: No, most of them do not work. They typically receive about $650/month in SSI Disability payments, and we require them to pay 30% of that to us as rent. As far as work goes, we like them to work, but it's important to be realistic about that. We estimate that about 30% of our residents can return to work--real, competitive work rather than make-work types of jobs. But it takes time. Many of these folks have lived on the street for several years, and you can't get that out of your system overnight. And some of them are too mentally ill to work even with treatment. So, you shouldn't come back to this property in two years and expect to find 30% of the residents working. But you would find that in some of our buildings that have been around for many years.

Q: Could you give priority for our local homeless population? That is, would homeless folks who are sleeping up here in North Seattle have priority?
A. Not quite. We'd be happy to interview and consider any homeless people that you'd like us to talk to. We've done that before and some of the people to whom we were referred were eligible for housing. But in the end, that vulnerability index that I talked about earlier is going to be our main criteria for deciding who has the biggest need for our services.

Q: What are the next steps for this project? Have you lined up funding for construction?
A: The Cyndy's property is currently under contract. We have the money to buy the property, and we expect to close within 45-60 days. In the meanwhile, Cyndy's House of Pancakes has signed a two-year lease and will stay here as the project moves forward. We have not yet lined up funding for the actual building, but we expect that we will be able to secure funding from a combination of city, county, and federal sources. If we didn't think we could secure funding, we wouldn't be buying the property. But we don't have it yet. After we purchase the property, we'll form the Design Guidance Committee that I mentioned earlier. And we'll begin the design and permitting process. The flyer that you received said that we could start construction in August 2011. That could happen, but it's a little optimistic. Lining up funding and going through permitting always take longer than you think. It might be more realistic to expect construction to begin at the end of 2011.

Hobson said that anyone in the neighborhood can contact him at bhobson@desc.org if they have additional questions about the project. He promised to try to return e-mail within 3 business days.

A message from Über Tavern:

First things first: Happy Birthday...to us. Über Tavern turns 4 years old this Saturday, June 26th.

Why not join us for a little something special?

Flyers Cab Ride on tap. We will be offering 4oz pours for $2.50!

- Starts at noon when we open, as long as it lasts. There are only 3 pony kegs in existence -- this is one of them. You can find out more about the beer HERE If you don't know about Cab Ride, it is a very special barley wine made exclusively for Über. Wood-aged x2, booze-aged x2:

- American & French Oak

- Booker's Cask Strength Bourbon & Laphroiag 10 Year Single Malt Scotch

- Base beer is 10.5%, based loosely on J.W. Lee's Vintage Harvest Ale

- Final strength after bourbon/scotch aging unknown

IN OTHER NEWS: We will be closed Sunday July 4th. We'll all be at the SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL BEERFEST that day. You should come join us!

See you under the bar,

Your friends at Über Tavern

Aurora|Seattle received confirmation today from Rod Swift of JSH Properties, Inc. that a lease agreement has been reached with the new tenant of the former Stupid Prices building at 7906 Aurora Avenue.  

Aaron's rental, a rent-to-own store with over 1700 locations in the U.S. and Canada, hopes to open its doors by August 1.  Aaron's has a number of stores in the greater Seattle area, with its nearest locations in Burien and Everett.

The Aaron's promise is "your total satisfaction by always providing the highest level of service, a large selection of name brand products and the guaranteed low price."

And, yes, they do intend to paint over the infamous yellow exterior of the building!

Also, file this in the "neighborhood rumors" category - there are whispers that someone may be preparing the former 1/2 Price Pots lot for a condo development.

It is indeed literally true that Aurora has got Green Lake's back - or is Green Lake's back - since good old highway 99 runs along the west side of the lake...

But it's also true that Green Lake has got Aurora's back - or at least its great neighborhood blog, My Green Lake, does!  Our friends over their have covered two Aurora-related happenings in the last two days:

Taco Express Truck Comes to [Aurora]

Vehicle Crashes Into Light Pole on Aurora

An announcement from "Celebrate North Seattle" event organizers:

Local Community Businesses and Groups Come Together To Sponsor Block Party to Get to Know Their Neighbors

Seattle, WA, June 10 2010 - Today AMC Oak Tree Cinemas, Northwest Face, and Epic Life Church announced an inaugural community block party to celebrate the businesses, community groups and people represented by North Seattle. This event will be hosted in the Oak Tree Cinema Parking lot June 13th from 2-6PM.  Admission is free. Celebrate North Seattle will feature local musician, Sid Law as well as entertainment for the whole family including inflatables, children’s games and food. Door prizes and gift bags will be provided by a variety of local businesses and community groups on a first come first serve basis. 

“We’re excited about the opportunity to get to know our neighbors in this unique community,” says Epic Life Church Pastor, Keith Carpenter. “There is so much good in North Seattle and along Aurora - we want to see that being celebrated. Getting to know one another is the first step.”  

About Celebrate North Seattle

Celebrate North Seattle is a community event dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the interaction of people and businesses in North Seattle. It is a free event open to the general public June 13th from 2-6 PM in the Oak Tree Cinema parking lot.  Participants are invited to come enjoy live music, games and learn about ways to be involved in their community.

From the SeattlePI:

State Department of Transportation crews estimate that more than 100,000 vehicles cross the Aurora Bridge daily.

But how many of those drivers know the history of the 88-year-old landmark?

Seattlepi.com staff pulled dozens of archived photos and a few articles about the bridge and are posting them here – a way to share some of the historical images we have in our archive.

The bridge – officially called the George Washington Memorial Bridge – was dedicated Feb. 22, 1932, which was the 200th anniversary of Washington's birthday. Then-president Herbert Hoover pressed a telegraph key that severed a silk barrier across the span and released flags furled over each end. The ceremony was broadcast across the western United States by NBC radio.

A photo that ran the following day in the P-I shows the bridge packed with thousands of spectators for the Monday morning ceremony.

Click here to see a gallery of 39 bridge photos. Follow this link to download a PDF of ceremony coverage, which includes the photo of the crowded bridge.

The day of the bridge dedication, the president of West Coast Construction, the general contractors for the bridge approaches said the structure would be more important for the international highway than the suspension bridge completed months before across the Hudson River in New York. That bridge also was named in honor of Washington.

Before Interstate 5, that stretch of Aurora Avenue North was part of Pacific Highway 1, which in Washington went from Canada to the Oregon border. The Twin Teepees was among the restaurants on the route, built as roadside attractions.

West Coast Construction Company also worked on the Spokane Street Bridge, Cleveland High School, six other Seattle schools, several commercial buildings and apartments.

The bridge was completed for $5,060,000, West Coast Construction president E.R. Erickson told a P-I reporter in 1932.

The suicide prevention fence, which is expected to be completed early next year, is estimated to cost $4.6 million.

The Aurora Bridge was designated by the Seattle engineering firm Jacobs and Ober, whose principal engineers were Major Joseph Jacobs and Captain Ralph Ober, according to Historylink.org.

Ober died in August 1931, about six months before the bridge was dedicated.

When the bridge was dedicated in 1932, officials estimated 10,000 vehicles would drive across it daily. In 2008, neighbors at a fence meeting were told more than 100,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.

The bridge is 2,945 feet long, 70 feet wide and 167 feet above Lake Union – about about the height of a 15-story building, according to the State Department of Transportation. None of the traffic lanes are more than 11 feet across.

For the complete article, click here.

The Seattle Solidarity Network, an organization with the goal of, "support[ing] our fellow workers' strikes and struggles, build[ing] solidarity, and organiz[ing] to deal with specific job, housing, and other problems caused by the greed of the rich and powerful," has recently expressed support for a former tenant of a property at 8806 Nesbit Avenue.

A flyer posted outside the apartments claims that the owner of the property, Nelson Properties, offers substandard housing, charges extra "hidden" fees, steals security deposits, harasses tenants, and refuses to clean up endemic black mold.

This is not the first time that the Seattle Solidarity Network has joined Nesbit residents.  In the spring of 2008, they stood with tenants of the Green Lake motel (now the Oak Tree Motel) apartments who were evicted after the state health department shut down the motel for numerous violations.

Interestingly, the Solidarity Network may have gained a significant ally this past week.  According to the Seattle Times,

The Seattle City Council voted Tuesday to establish a city inspection program for rental-housing units, but it left many of the program details for a citizens group to figure out over the next two years.

Tuesday's vote sent a clear message that the council wants the city to be more aggressive about making sure the city's 100,000-plus rental units are safe and landlords adhere to city building codes.

The city will charge landlords a license fee, but it hasn't determined how much. The city could inspect every unit in the city, or just a sampling, or just in certain neighborhoods. The new program likely won't be in place until 2012.